Pakistanis | Pakistan

Additional Interior Secretary Salman Chaudhry said on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates had not been issuing visas to Pakistanis. Pakistan and the UAE share close diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties. The UAE is one of Pakistan’s largest trading partners in the Middle East and a major source of remittances, with a large Pakistani expatriate population living and working there. The secretary made this revelation during a meeting of the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights, further stating that Saudi Arabia and the UAE had “stopped short of imposing a ban on the Pakistani passport”. “If a ban is imposed, getting it removed would be difficult,” he warned. The official said that currently, the UAE was only issuing visas to blue and diplomatic passport holders. Separately, Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, who heads the Senate committee on human rights, also confirmed that the interior ministry official’s remarks to Dawn. She said the bar was attributed to concerns about people travelling to the UAE and ...

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has issued a warning to overseas Pakistanis—particularly those residing in the United Kingdom—about a fraudulent website impersonating its services.

The United Nations’ migration agency on Tuesday said that 18 people were killed when a wooden vessel carrying dozens of migrants capsized off the coast of Libya on Tuesday, while 64 people — including 12 Pakistanis — were rescued. The vessel “capsized only a few hours into its journey due to high waves”, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said in a statement, adding that the accident had occurred off the coast of Surman, Libya. “Among the survivors are 29 Sudanese men, one Sudanese woman, and one Sudanese child; 18 Bangladeshi men; 12 Pakistani men; and three Somali men,” it said. No information was yet available about the nationalities of those who died. “This latest shipwreck is a stark reminder of the grave dangers faced by people undertaking perilous sea journeys in search of safety and opportunity,” the IOM said. It said the central Mediterranean route from northern Africa across to Europe remained “one of the world’s deadliest migration corridors”. The agency said its Missing Migrants Pr...

Nearly 700 foreigners, including Pakistanis, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Thailand, the Thai army said on Thursday, following a military operation against the Chinese-backed KK Park, a notorious cybercrime compound. Thailand has detained 677 people, including 618 men and 59 women, after they crossed the border into Tak province, it said in a statement. Myanmar’s military has taken control of KK Park and is inspecting the area, driving a large number of people into Thailand, the statement said. The people are now undergoing legal procedures and screening, and Thai authorities have also made additional detention facilities available in case existing spaces become insufficient, the army said. “All actions are in line with legal and humanitarian principles,” it said, adding that it was working closely with local security agencies to maintain order along the Thai-Myanmar border. The group consists primarily of individuals from India and China, with smaller numbers from Vietnam, Pakistan, Indonesia and severa...

The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has established new counters in Pakistani embassies across several countries to facilitate overseas Pakistanis in obtaining identity and other essential documents.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday that a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker with 27 crew members, including 24 Pakistanis, was attacked by an Israeli drone while it was docked at a port in Yemen earlier this month. After the Foreign Office (FO) said earlier today that Pakistanis aboard the LPG tanker were safe and sound and making their way out of Yemeni waters, Naqvi posted on X that the vessel was attacked on September 17 while it was docked at the Ras Issa port, which was under the control of Houthi rebels. Israel has launched repeated attacks on Houthi targets during the Gaza conflict, as the Iran-backed rebels fire missiles and drones at Israel and Red Sea shipping, claiming solidarity with the Palestinian cause. According to Naqvi, apart from Pakistanis, the LPG tanker’s crew included two Sri Lankans and a Nepali. He said the vessel’s captain was also a Pakistani. Naqvi added that an LPG tank had exploded following the attack, but the crew managed to extinguish the fire. “The vessel was ...

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Yahya Afridi has established the Overseas Litigants Facilitation Cell (OLFC) to provide overseas Pakistanis with timely and convenient access to justice.

• PTI parliamentary body says international community showed little interest in flood relief • Endorses boycott of by-polls and resignation from parliamentary committees; daily walkouts planned in NA and Senate to highlight ‘lack of democracy’ in country ISLAMABAD: Claiming that the international community has not shown interest in supporting Pakistan after floods, the parliamentary committee of the PTI on Monday urged former prime minister Imran Khan to appeal to overseas Pakistanis to donate funds through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government to help flood-hit people in Punjab and KP. The committee endorsed the decision of Imran Khan to boycott the by-elections and resign from parliamentary committees. It also decided to stage a daily boycott of the National Assembly to send a message to national and international community that the democracy does not exist in the country. PTI leader Asad Qaiser, while talking to Dawn, said that during the meeting, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan briefed the committee on his meeting ...

ISLAMABAD - Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday took up the issue of repatriation of wanted Pakistanis in a meeting with Acting US Ambassador Natalie Baker.

Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Broadcasting Danyal Chaudhry on Wednesday met British High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriott to discuss cooperation between Islamabad and London. Pakistan and the United Kingdom have been engaged in the Enhanced Strategic Dialogue (ESD) since 2011, which has deepened and broadened the dialogue between the two countries, covering areas such as trade, economic growth and development, cultural cooperation, security, and education. During the meeting, held in Islamabad, Chaudhry highlighted Pakistan’s ‘democratic trajectory’ and emphasised that constructive dialogue and strong institutions were essential for a sustainable democracy. “The meeting also touched on matters concerning Pakistani-origin citizens in the UK, including taxation and general facilitation,” the press release read. “Marriott welcomed ongoing efforts to support overseas Pakistanis and expressed interest in further collaboration to enhance services for the diaspora.” Chaudhry stressed, during the ...

Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, speaking to the Pakistani community during his visit to the United States, praised overseas Pakistanis as a symbol of “brain gain” rather than “brain drain,” calling them a source of pride and honour for the nation.

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Saturday directed officials to implement measures for fast-track visa issuance, particularly for members of the overseas Pakistanis, including investors and business professionals. Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting to review Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ initiatives introduced in the year 2024 under his […]

Amid growing economic challenges, nearly 350,000 Pakistanis have left the country in the first six months of 2025, seeking better job prospects and living conditions abroad.

Pakistani security sources said on Monday that India has once again begun “fake encounters” under the guise of countering terrorism, with an alleged plan to “use” detained Pakistanis in them, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. The statement came after the Indian Army’s Chinar Corps said they killed three alleged “terrorists” under ‘Operation Mahadev’ in occupied Kashmir’s Srinagar. While Indian media, citing sources, has been linking one of the dead to the Pahalgam attack, no official has stated that on record. The April 22 attack in held Kashmir’s Pahalgam killed 26 people and sparked heavy fighting between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, as New Delhi blamed the attack on Islamabad, which strongly denied the allegations while calling for a neutral investigation. India had launched Operation Sindoor in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, which included the deadly strikes launched on Pakistan on May 7. “After the failure of Operation Sindoor, India has once again initiated fake encounters under the guise of Ope...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has praised the significant contributions of overseas Pakistanis, calling their role in the country’s development "unforgettable.

As many as 336,999 Pakistanis secured employment abroad between January 1 and June 30, 2025, through the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment (BEOE), an attached department of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has introduced a new policy allowing overseas Pakistanis to register their mobile phones without paying tax for a period of 120 days during each visit to Pakistan.

Mohammad Hassan anxiously returned to Pakistan from Iran this week after witnessing drones, missiles and explosions tear through Tehran’s sky during what he called long, “horrifying nights”. The 35-year-old University of Tehran student is one of about 3,000 Pakistanis who, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have returned home since Israel launched its aerial war against its long-time enemy last week. Governments around the world are scrambling to evacuate their nationals caught up in the rapidly spiralling conflict as Israel and Iran trade missile and drone strikes. “I was in the city centre where most of the strikes took place and even one of the student dormitories was attacked and luckily no one was dead, but students were injured,” Hassan said. Pakistani students walk across the Pakistan-Iran border after returning from Iran in Taftan, Balochistan, on June 19. — AFP There are more than 500 Pakistani students at his university alone, he said, all of them on their way “back home”. “Those days and...

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has expressed his deep appreciation for the significant role being played by overseas Pakistanis as ambassadors of the country during his official visit to the United States, the military’s media wing said on Tuesday. Field Marshal Munir arrived in Washington on Sunday for a five-day official visit aimed at reinforcing military and strategic ties between Pakistan and the United States, diplomatic sources confirmed. The visit, which sources described as “primarily bilateral in nature”, is not officially linked to the US Army’s 250th anniversary celebrations on June 14, despite its timing. “During the visit, the COAS interacted with the overseas Pakistani community in Washington DC,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. “During the interaction, the COAS expressed his deep appreciation for the vital and most significant role being played by overseas Pakistanis for being ambassadors of Pakistan,” the press release continued. He acknowledged thei...

ISLAMABAD - The federal government on Saturday decided to cancel passports of those Pakistanis returning to the country after being deported, besides registration of cases against them.